Family in distress

On Saturday, the director got a phone call about a family of 5 children whose grandmother had just died. The 5 had already lost both parents, then moved to live with an aunt, who had also died, leaving them with their grandmother who had now died leaving them alone. The oldest, a boy of 14, had visual problems; the next oldest, a girl, had been raped some years ago leaving her HIV positive and now on antiretroviral treatment. The youngest girl also may have been raped while the youngest child has fits.

When the 3 year old director's son heard about the family, he immediately rushed to his bedroom to fetch some of his cuddly toys to give to the children. So on Monday, a social worker, paralegal worker with the director and her son set off to find the headmistress of the school where the children were schooling. Accompanied by 2 teachers, the team then went to the family's home. There were still 8 relatives present who had gathered for the funeral the day before (and eaten all the children's food). After a lengthly discussion, they felt that none of them was in a position to take in the children, even though IOC had assisted the family to get 3 foster care grants and these could be transferred to a new foster parent. They said that the girls were at risk of further abuse and all the food would be stolen if they were left to live alone. The children also agreed that they would like to be moved to a safer place with adults to care for them. Smiles broke out all round when the three year old distributed his gifts.

We are now looking for a place to move these children to, preferably within this province. Watch this space!